Hall County Sheriff Gerald Couch said he stands behind two of his deputies who reported they were verbally accosted by a Gwinnett County commissioner during a funeral procession for a fallen police officer last month.
The two said they were directing traffic at the intersection of GA 124 and GA 20 during the procession for Gwinnett Police Officer Antwan Toney, who had been killed in the line of duty.
The deputies provided written statements, saying they had been confronted by Commissioner Tommy Hunter who wanted to get around traffic.
Couch said in a press statement he became aware of the incident when he received a complaint call from Hunter, who told the sheriff his officers had been rude to him.
“I was quite shocked by the phone call," Couch said in his statement. "We had already been receiving some messages that day from Gwinnett County Police Officers, the family of the officer and other Gwinnett County residents, citizens of Gwinnett County, saying how proud they were that we showed that respect to their fallen officer,” Couch said.
He said 50 Hall County deputies filled in for Gwinnett officers, so they could attend the funeral for Toney.
After the phone call, Couch said he determined the deputies involved in the incident had told their Patrol Division Captain what had happened. Couch asked that the deputies make written statements. [See the statements below. The Sheriff's Office redacted the names of the deputies.]
“There was disrespect shown that day, but it was not shown on the part of my officers. It was shown on the part of Commissioner Hunter,” Couch said. “He felt, and he conveyed to me when he spoke with me on the phone, that basically he was entitled by his position in his county to be able to travel that roadway that day, but the rest of Gwinnett County citizens were showing their respect."
Couch said he also contacted Gwinnett County County Commission Chairwoman Charlotte Nash to let her know what transpired.
“As far as his (Hunter’s) complaint, after receiving the deputies’ statements I deemed it to be unfounded. They were not in fact rude, and they were not disrespectful in any form or fashion that day. In fact, I’ve very proud of them, and I thank all of the deputies who volunteered to go show their honor and respect to Officer Toney, his family and the Gwinnett County Police Department,” Couch said.
Statement from Hall County Sheriff's Office deputy:
On October 24, 2018 while working a funeral detail for a fallen Officer in Gwinnett County, Sgt. _______ and myself, Deputy ______ came into contact with a subject. ______ and I noticed a grayish in color Chevy pickup move in and out of the funeral precessions before it came to a stop in the turning lane at Buford Drive and Highway 124. Sgt. _______ and I were both standing still in a military style position showing respect to all persons in the procession and many on lookers all around who came to show respect for the fallen Officer. Once the vehicle came to a stop a white Male with Grey hair in his early 60's asked Sgt. _______ and me if he could turn left onto Hwy 124. While standing at attention, we politely told the gentleman no sir, I'm sorry we can’t let you thru until the precession has past. The man then stated, "He was the county commissioner and said that the Officer worked for me". He then said he didn't mean to get into the funeral precession. He then said "I don't know why you can’t let me through". He then began getting agitated and asked us what county we were from. After asking what county we were from he again asked why he could not pass by. Sgt. _______ stated to the male "we could not move out of respect to the fallen Officer". The grey headed male then made some remark and began taking pictures of our cars and us and rolled up his window. He then began using his cell phone. Once all marked units had past, Sgt. _______ moved to his patrol unit. The male in the truck rolled his window down and stated "he needed to get his ass back to Hall County". I then moved to my patrol vehicle. I thanked the onlookers for their patience who were behind my car. One gentleman who must heard the man in the truck stated “some people just don't have any patience". I then got into my patrol vehicle that was parked in the road and attempted to move it from the intersection but was stopped by the Male in the Chevy truck as he turned down Hwy. 124. During the incident neither Sgt. _______ nor I said anything rude or made remarks to the male subject in the truck. We both maintained discipline in our stance and never moved from our beginning post.
Statement from Hall County Sheriff's Office sergeant:
Deputy _____________ and I were blocking the intersection of Buford Hwy/ Hwy 124 for the fallen Gwinnett officer’s funeral. We were in class A uniforms and our marked county vehicles had the blue lights activated. The funeral procession of police cars with blue lights activated were going through our intersection when a grey Chevy Silverado left the line and pulled into the turning lane. The driver, a middle aged W/M wearing a button down blue shirt and blue lensed sunglasses asked if he could turn and I told him no. He laughed and asked if we were from Hall County. I told him we were. He then asked, "Then, why are you blocking my intersection?" I answered, "For a fallen Police Officers funeral". The driver said, "I know it’s a Policeman's funeral...I'm a commissioner". I didn't say anything else to him and returned to my position of attention. The driver then took pictures of us and our patrol cars. He looked at me and smiled, at which time I noticed a large gap in his front teeth. As we were releasing the traffic once the procession passed, I heard the driver say, "Y’all get on back to Hall County now." I turned to look at him for a minute. He smiled again and gave me a thumbs up sign. It was more than evident he was being sarcastic. I tried to get a tag number but couldn't due to the volume of traffic. I did notice a prestige tag of some sort out of the state of Nebraska on the front of the truck. I was bothered by the encounter and the obvious lack of respect and reverence for the situation by a supposed commissioner so I googled Gwinnett County Commissioners on my phone. Tommy Hunter's picture appeared and Deputy _______ and I immediately recognized him as the driver of the grey Silverado. He was easily identified by the gap in his teeth as well.
